Perfect
by Walking In Circles
Summary: V gives Evey some gifts one day, and she also gets something he never intended her to have.


Author's Note: This fic is a one-shot. I will not be continuing it, and you can't pressure me into it either. I'm moving on to a different story now.

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"V! Honestly!" Evey felt along in front of her, blindfolded.

"Oh no, no, dear Evey, it's supposed to be a surprise." V had his hands on Evey's shoulders, guiding her through the tunnel. Evey wondered why she had let him blindfold her like this. For all she knew he was leading her somewhere to kill her. She still had no real idea of who he was. She knew he must have been taking her to a secluded place because her feet ached like they had been walking for hours.

"Are we getting close?" she feigned amusement, but she was feeling rather frightened.

"Just a moment…" Evey felt his touch brush away from her shoulders as he walked ahead of her, leaving her for just a second before he came back and took her hands in his gloved ones, leading her a bit further. The feeling of cold metal under her fingertips told her he wanted her to climb up a ladder.

"Is that…Do I smell…?" A small grin crept to Evey's lips.

"Just climb the ladder," V smiled behind his mask, and Evey did as she was told. When she reached the top and climbed clumsily out, she felt concrete under her hands, and that familiar smell remained. Seconds later V was behind her and he finally removed her blindfold.

What she beheld in front of her was a darkened field, and behind her, dense forest. The darkness from the time of night and the tree cover disoriented her a bit before she stepped from the concrete dais into the grass. The wonderful smell had been the wild flowers that grew in the field; she hadn't smelled the untouched beauty of wildflowers since she was very young.

"I haven't been outside of the city in so long. What is this place?"

"Just a field." He was lying to her, and she realized it from his tone of voice. But what she didn't know was that the forest behind her held the ruins of a dreadful place, and the field in front of her was once a burial ground, long since covered up. Evey didn't say anything to him. She continued walking amongst the tall grass and flowers until the overhang of the trees gave way and she could see the stars.

"Thank you for bringing me here, V. It's lovely." Evey walked out a bit further until she found a suitable spot to lie down. V followed, gingerly sitting next her as she stared up at the stars. He watched her face and eyes light up with awe, and V wondered if he really could go through with all the decisions he had made for the coming year.

Hours later, Evey was asleep in V's arms as he carried her back through the tunnels to his Shadow Gallery. He placed her on her bed, covering her up with the bed sheets before turning to leave.

"Beautiful….love…." Evey was whispering words in her sleep, and V turned back to listen to her. "Stars…mmm...blueberries…" V smiled and noted to make her blueberry pancakes in the morning. Just as he was turning to leave, Evey whispered his name and turned over. Quickly he left the room and shut the door behind him. He sighed heavily and pulled off his mask and wig as he trudged to his own room.

In the morning, Evey woke in a sweat, smiling as she recalled her dreams. The smell of breakfast pulled her up from the tangled sheets. She quickly changed her clothes when she noticed the ones from yesterday still clinging haphazardly to her body.

When she emerged from her room, she quickly smoothed down her wrinkled black shirt and tightened her pony tail. Her copper-brown skirt swished against her legs as she walked barefoot to the kitchen area, where she found V cooking her breakfast again. In that silly apron no less.

"Blueberry pancakes? How did you know?" Evey smiled and sat down to eat.

"A little bird told me." V turned the burner on the stove off and replaced his leather gloves before he pulled the apron off. "Evey, remember a few weeks ago when you told me of all the books you had wanted to read, but they had been put on the blacklist?"

"Mmm hmm," she replied with a mouthful of pancakes. Evey looked up at him with her big brown eyes and at that moment she noticed that V had a different aura about him; he seemed awkward and hesitant about something. Her chewing faltered as, without a word, he disappeared to his room, only to return a few moments later, hiding something behind his back. Evey swallowed and put her fork down. "V, have you another surprise for me?"

"Yes I do, I was going to save it for later, but now is as good a time as any." He produced a book from behind his back, making Evey gasp in surprise and jump from her seat to snatch it. V admired her as she fingered the leather binding and gold engraving on the cover, a smile appearing on her flushed face.

"Edgar Allan Poe…But how? I thought there was nothing left…"

"You'd be surprised to know just how many members of authority don't follow their own rules." V grasped his arms behind his back and walked closer to her as she returned to her chair. "Evey, I have a question to ask you…"

"Yes, V?" He shifted his weight and looked at the floor for a second. "What is it V?" Evey reached up, placing her hand on his arm.

"Are you…I mean…Are you happy, Evey?"

"Of course I'm happy! You've given me two things in just a few hours I thought I would never see!"

"What I meant, Evey, was, are you happy living here with me? I know that this isn't the most ideal situation, and we hardly know each other, but I just want to know."

"Oh…oh, V. I don't know. This place is glorious, you're a wonderful man, and you've given me so much in such a short time. I can't remember a time I've ever been this happy." V straightened and appeared pleased with her answer, but she continued. "However…there are a few things I miss…The sunshine, my friends, working…You know, things like that." Evey looked down at her new book when she spoke, embarrassed that he might not like her answer.

"I could take you out. During the day. If you wished it."

"Really? That would be lovely." Evey sighed and turned away, daydreaming, and did not notice V leave her presence.

Sometime later, Evey sat flipping through the book and listening to music, waiting for V to be finished doing whatever it was he did at this time of day. Despite the music, Evey was disturbed by the emptiness and began reading aloud to herself.

"The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge. You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that I gave utterance to a threat. _At length_ I would be avenged; this was a point definitively settled of risk. I must not only-"

"I must not only punish, but punish with impunity." V appeared in the doorway behind her. "A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong." Evey smiled as V approached her, marking her place in her book and setting it on the table.

"Have you memorized every book that's come into your possession?" she asked, still smiling.

"Almost, but there are few things I haven't gotten to yet." He sat on the other end of the settee, painfully aware that Evey was inching closer to him. "I recently acquired one of the last remaining copies of Oscar Wilde's 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' and I have yet to read it." His hands tightened their grip on his knees when Evey rested her head on his shoulder.

"Could we watch a movie before I go to sleep?" She sounded so sweet and childlike with that statement, there was no way he could have refused her.

"Of course. Which one would you like to see tonight?"

"I was thinking of 'A Midsummer's Night Dream'. You know the one with James Cagney in it?" V nodded to her and stood up to retrieve the video.

The gray light from the television screen washed over Evey's slumbering features while V continued to watch the movie. The soft voices were lulling him to sleep, and he struggled to stay awake. He was going to sit there and watch the rest of the movie, then carry Evey to her room, as he did almost every night.

_"Then, my queen, in silence sad, trip we after the night's shade. We the globe can compass soon, swifter than the wandering moon."_

_"Come, my lord, and in our flight tell me how it came this night that I sleeping here was found with these mortals on the gr—"_ V turned the television off, knowing he could not stay awake any longer. Carefully, he lifted Evey in his arms and carried her to her room, sitting on the side of the bed after tucking her in. He slipped off his gloves and delicately brushed her hair back, fingers tingling at the softness. He faltered as he took off his mask, but he wished to look at her properly, at least once.

V couldn't understand how something so lovely and so perfect could be happy with him, could not think he was a monster of a man. _She doesn't even know what you look like beneath all this._ But he could never let her see, she wouldn't understand. _You underestimate her._ V mentally slapped himself for always being so maintained and impervious around Evey. She deserved more from him. He turned to grab his mask when he felt something grasp his hand.

"Evey!" As her brown eyes fixed on his gray ones, V could do nothing but freeze as she studied this new image of him. Evey slowly reached her free hand up to his scarred face and traced the contours of his features. Her thumb brushed over his lips and he closed his eyes, fearing what she would say. But instead of speaking, he felt her move closer to him, felt her breath on his face, and when he opened his eyes, she kissed him gently.

"You're perfect," she whispered. Evey continued to kiss him, and V felt some of his barriers breaking down as her words hung in the air. He grabbed her shoulders and lightly pushed her away.

"Evey, I…" V didn't even know what to say. She had stunned him completely. No one had ever been able to do that before, and he didn't know what to make of it. Evey watched him, trying to find something in his eyes to tell her what he had been trying to say, but there was nothing. It seemed an endless time before either of them spoke.

"I'm sorry V, I shouldn't have…I understand if you…" Evey looked away from him and picked his mask up, fingering the straps before offering it to him. V put his leather gloves back on before reaching for the mask. Evey lay back down in her bed, waiting for V to put the smiling face back in place. But he didn't. He leaned in and kissed Evey on her forehead.

"Sleep now, Evey. We'll talk about all this in the morning." Quietly he left the room, closing the door behind him, pausing for a minute when he heard the gasps of crying.

Evey woke in the morning, eyes still sore from her crying. V was nowhere to be found. She waited for hours but he never came. The next day he was there, but they didn't speak to each other. The day after, they were still silent. They never spoke of it at all, until eventually they both just pretended they had forgotten about it. Evey continued to read her book while V went off to be alone, and once a week he took her to the field during the day so she could pick flowers and sit in the sun. At night, V still came into her room when she slept to look at her and to listen to her whispering while she dreamt. And the words she whispered last before returning to silence were always, "You're perfect."


End file.
